This window enables you to convert data in a non-SAS data file into a SAS data set. Using the button, you supply the name of an existing file, and using the button you supply a name and storage location for the data set to be created.
Note that this data importing facility is suitable only for data in fixed column format. That is, the data that are to become a particular variable in the SAS data set must appear within the same range of columns on every record in the file. Examples of a suitable and unsuitable file format are below:
| Suitable |
123 45 78 34 8 444 |
| Unsuitable |
123 45 78 34 8 444 |
Data for one SAS data set observation should not span more than one record in the file, and the file should contain no blank lines.
You will work through a sequence of several windows in creating a data set from your file. Read the instructions on these windows carefully.